Airport Scribe Tells Travelers’ Tales

by Alister POOLE on August 26, 2009

Airports in the United Kingdom are set to have something no airport has ever had, a writer-in residence. Alain de Botton, a philosopher whose previous books include The Architecture of Happiness and Status Anxiety and The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work will be spending time in various airports in the United Kingdom to chronicle the stories of travelers.

He is being given full access to London’s Heathrow airport for at least a week, where he will live in Terminal Five. Botton plans to write a book about the experience and the popular London airport will be giving away at least ten thousand copies of the book for free to its passengers.

The writer, whose unprecedented book, as well as access to the airport make him unique among his peers, says that airports embody many parts of our modern world which is full of “”interconnection, fast travel, the destruction of nature… dreams of consumerism and travel.”

Botton hopes to capture the many highs and lows of the airport, including the joy of seeing a loved one, and the sometimes painful delays and obstacles many travelers endure. “It’s all here at an airport and so being able to be a writer in residence here, is just a chance to see in action all these things that we normally just hear about as abstractions,” said Botton in a statement.

Thanks to BBC News for the quotes. For the complete article, please visit their website.